Pellsons Perceivings

[NARSES2]

Thud does look good in that scheme 

[Old Wombat]

The Thud is definitely the F-105 Thunderchief, I had that hammered into me by an ex-USAF member of another site in another time (No, not BtS) when I erroneously referred to the P-47 Thunderbolt as the Thud (it is, of course, the Jug).

[Pellson]

As my poor and profoundly cut-up belly isn't really supportive of any meaningful activities before a proper mid-morning tea (and I'm not very much of a morning person anyway), the day kind of got somewhat out of hand as a string of very nice indeed thunderstorms rolled in just before lunch. That meant not much Defender work today, as my garage shares ceiling with God.

That, on the other hand, served the good purpose of actually giving me the kick in the six-o-clock needed to do more about the Thunderstreak wing rebuild than just thinking about it, and hey presto - it's done! I cut the wing in the lower wing panel glue joint, inserted a 3 mm strip and reattached the leading edge on the outside, finally sanding it all to shape. And pretty well it went too. Thus aptly spirited, I went on shimming in the outer pylons in order to realign the intended ordinance somewhat, and also that seems to have gone surprisingly well. Not bad for an hour or two in the afternoon.

Next is to sort the painting, and the Norm 83 scheme is a bit elusive in Humbrol terms. I'm not entirely comfortable with the dark grey/black hue. It's given to be RAL 7021 Schwarzgrau (black grey, for the non German speakers), and thus shouldn't be Humbrol (H) 33, which of course is black. And the next darkest hue I can find is either H123 or H67, none of them being even close. I could mix my own, of course, but planning an entire schwarm of German mud movers and tree cutters, I'd really prefer something more consistent over time. Hmm..

Well - I'll sleep on that for now.

[Rick Lowe]

IIRC Humbrol 32 is an 'Almost Black'.
Or do you have any EDSG?

[PR19_Kit]

The old Humbrol Panzer Grey was pretty dark, I used to use it for aircraft tyres before I found Tamiya Tyre Black.

[Pellson]

EDSG doesn't seem to be covered in the Humbrol range, the closest being DSG in the form of H164. And that's too light and too blue.
Tank grey, a.k.a H67 is a good thought. But - lo and behold - my local (well, 30 km is relatively local) hobby shop has switched to Revell enamels, so suddenly, all the Bundeswehr RAL colours are available, among them R09 Anthrazit, which is the German IPMS callout for RAL 7021. I bought two cans while at it.. 

Not many excuses left, it seems. But the weather, possibly, that seems to be made for outdoor activities such as working on a Defender. Ah well...

[PR19_Kit]

That's because of Humbrol's temporary cessation in making paint to the old spec. I expect. They're working on new formulations that don't contravene the EU's crazy rules.

[Pellson]

Remember this?

I chime in here, because I have applied a variety of those Eighties Phantom schemes...

I tried to paint a MiG-21 in these colors many moons ago, and I used as many RAL tones as possible, even though with some deliberate replacements:

Upper sides:
RAL 7009 Grüngrau = Revell 67 (authentic)
RAL 7012 Basaltgrau = Revell 77 (authentic)
RAL 7037 Staubgrau = Humbrol 106
RAL 7039 Quarzgrau = Humbrol 92 (the brownish dark, H92 is a compromise and not available anymore, I used Revell 47, but that's too cold and grey)

Fuselage sides/fin:
RAL 7030 Steingrau = Revell 75 (authentic, but I rather used Humbrol 64 because Steingrau is a rather brownish tone, almost like RAF Hemp)

Lower sides:
RAL 7001 Silbergrau = Humbrol 127 (used Humbrol 166, which is less bluish and comes IMHO closer to the real world impression)
RAL 7035 Lichtgrau = Humbrol 196 (used Humbrol 147, which is a tad darker - on real aircraft you hardly see and contrast between the two tones)

Note that the brownish tone does not appear at all!


1:72 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21G; "24+17", JG 71 'Richthofen', Deutsche Bundesluftwaffe; Wittmundhafen, 1995 (Whif) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Thanks, Thomas. These are all so good, and that MiG-21G is outright marvellous! What I'm after is a bit more colourful. I would really like the blues, greens and browns to be clearly discernible but still not too garish. My current plan is as follows:

Upper sides:
RAL 7009 Grüngrau = Humbrol 31
RAL 7012 Basaltgrau = Humbrol 145
RAL 7037 Staubgrau = Humbrol 127
RAL 7039 Quarzgrau = Humbrol 251

Fuselage sides/fin:
RAL 7030 Steingrau = Humbrol 64

Lower sides:
RAL 7001 Silbergrau = 166
RAL 7009 Grüngrau = Humbrol 31

The target is really an impression like this:



..but based on this scheme to allow for some low level blending also when manouvering hard. Also, the two dust grey (Staubgrau) fields on the wings lighten up the upper sides a bit, not making the aircraft quite as dull as on the photo.



But we'll see. I'm trying it out on an old, and if so should be, disposable Italeri F-4F. 

Having been able to source some Revell enamels, I am now able to make a tin top comparison of the Norm 81 colours.



As can be seen, Humbrol is on top and Revell below. The RAL 7039 Quarzgrau (H251) is missing from the Revell lineup, but the rest is there.

Also, my Humbrol lineup produces a somewhat more colourful scheme, as per the Phantom Pharewell scheme above.

I'll look at the Norm 83 later. Now - that Defender.. 

[Pellson]

Reading up on different Luftwaffe equipment, I came across the Fiat G91R/3, finding that the Ginas employed two DEFA 552 30 mm cannons. Comparing these to the Browning 12,7 mm guns, they actually are reasonably within limits looking at dimensions and weight, the main difference being the substantially heavier 30 mm ammo. However, halving the no of barrels gives space as well as weight savings, both readily available to use for the heavier cannon ammunition. Hence, in the interest of commonality within the service - version 1.03 below. Corrections still in red, and also now bold to increase visibility .

Continuous evolution is a good thing they say..

The F-84F Thunderstreak in continued NATO service

The F-84F Thunderstreak was widely used throughout NATO, and almost half of the 2711 units built were transferred to Europe for service within the allied air forces there. France was the first country to receive Thunderstreaks in 1955, but within a few years, also the air forces of Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, West Germany, Greece and Turkey flew these sturdy fighterbombers.
Aeronautical evolution went fast at that time, and starting from 1961, most of the European F-84F's were being replaced with the new and more than twice as fast F-104G Starfighter. While the F-84F's had had their limitations, in particular regarding high-speed operations at low altitude and general high-altitude performance, the F-104G was a beast, and in particular in Germany, the Luftwaffe experienced substantial losses, culminating with 44 aircraft lost during 1964-1965. To solve this, in 1966, the Luftwaffe temporarily halted all low-level Starfighter operations, basically taking them off all air to ground duties, restricting them to medium and high-altitude interception duties. To fill the gap, the venerable F-84F was brought out of storage.

Not knowing for how long they would have to rely on the Thunderstreak, the Germans took the opportunity to try to remedy some of the worst vices of the aircraft. The German company Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm was lended an airframe for rebuild and trials, and within seven months, the prototype was flying. The changes were actually rather substantial but somewhat hard to detect from a distance. Most visible was a chord extension to the outer wing, creating a vortex inducing dogtooth and decreasing the chord ratio, thereby improving the transonic properties as well as stall characteristics while maneuvering hard. To improve on the infamous ground loving take off characteristics of the F-84F, the new wing also reintroduced the leading edge slats for increased lift, and further, the original American J65 engine was substituted with British AS Sapphire giving about 30% more thrust. All in all, these changes significantly improved on low level high speed behaviour, making the Thunderstreak a much safer aircraft to operate. Also, as intended, the requirements for runway length could be reduced with almost a third, suddenly making most metalled airfields in the continent viable for deployment.
Regarding systems, the four 0,5 cal guns in the nose were replaced with two french 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons, improving efficacy against armoured targets while the guns in the wing roots were deleted altogether, saving some weight. Improved navigation and communication systems were integrated together with a laser ranger and marked target seeker (LRMTS), located behind transparent sections in the intake splitter wall, replacing the old gunranging radar.

Altogether, this produced a surprisingly effective strike and close air support aircraft, and during two years from 1967, more than 250 German Thunderstreaks were taken in hand for conversion and redelivered to the Bundeswehr, adding a third squadron to five fighterbomber wings (Jagdbombergeschwadern, or JaboG in German terminology), and fully equipping all three sqns of JaboG 35. Closely following the outcome of this exercise, the Dutch Air Force (Koninklijke Luchmacht), the Belgian Forces Aeriennes Belge and the Italian Aeronautica Militare followed suit, each upgrading their remaining Thunderstreak fleets along similar lines.

However, already in 1968, improved training, both of pilots and ground crew, had significantly impacted the flight safety record of the Starfighters throughout Europe, and the much higher attack speed of the F-104 was seen as imperative in dealing with Soviet air defence systems, in particular in the nuclear penetration role. Accordingly, Starfighters were reintroduced to strike duties and Thunderstreak operations were again wound down and many airframes stored. All four air forces however kept some numbers flying, partly as they were better suited for close air support than the lightning-fast Starfighters, but also to keep older pilots rotating out of Starfighter assignments active on a less demanding but still useful asset. They were also used to maintain offensive air trim in reservist pilots. While only about a third of the upgraded airframes were in active use at any given time, the aircraft were rotated between storage and active duty, evening out wear and tear.
In Germany, JaboG 35 was renumbered JaboG 38 in 1975, concentrating the Luftwaffe Thunderstreaks to one wing with four squadrons. Maintaining the CAS role together with the LeKG's (light fighterbomber wings) operating Fiat G.91R's, the wing was kept active until 1983 when it finally phased out its old F-84F's and reverted to training Tornado crews as an operational conversion unit. At this time, some of the F-84F's had been repainted in the new all green wraparound Norm 83 scheme.

In 1969, Belgium and the Netherlands formed a joint wing at Weelde Air Base, just on the Belgian side of the border. Following a somewhat slow start while the two countries moved airframes and operations from squadrons transferring to Mirages and NF-5's, respectively, they in time operated two squadrons each, the Belgian 6th and 12th sqns and the Dutch 704th and 705th sqns. As in Germany, this wing kept only a small active cadre, mainly filling its ranks with reservists. The Belgian aircraft from the start flew in US SEA camouflage, and the Dutch in their old dark grey/green over PRU blue scheme, but already in 1974 reverted to the standard NATO grey/green as applied to NF-5A's. Pilots from both countries regularly flew each other's mounts as the aircraft were kept and maintained on a fully shared basis. Both countries ceased operations and the wing disbanded in 1981.

The Italians flew their final F-84F's on the regular roster with no 50 sqn at Piacenza. When that sqn finally got its Starfighters, as the final F-104 sqn in the Aeronautica Militare Italiano, also Italy chose to allocate a separate reservist sqn, selecting the no 52 Stormo, a number with proud traditions from WW2. The Stormo stayed at Piacenza in parallel with the Starfighters until 1985 when finally disbanding. The Italian Thunderstreaks followed the Starfighters changes in camouflage, ending up in a grey/green over bare metal scheme in the late seventies.

France however chose to retire its Thunderstreaks unmodified, instead flying Super Sabres and later Jaguars in the close air support role.


A little more edition this time, as you can see, but not so much in substance. Polishing, I guess you could call it.. 

The model is all but ready for painting now, just missing a couple of gun barrels. I might not get much done in the near time, though, as the weather is awesome, and we've relocated to our archipelagian cottage. Boating might be more of a priority..

[zenrat]

I admire the effort you are putting into your back story.
I just wait until the muse is awake and then spew whatever crap is in my head across the keyboard.

[NARSES2]

Continuous evolution is a good thing they say..

According to Darwin certainly 

I admire the effort you are putting into your back story.
I just wait until the muse is awake and then spew whatever crap is in my head across the keyboard.

I have to agree with both of those statements 

[Old Wombat]

Continuous evolution is a good thing, as long as you don't become too specialised, paleo-history is full of specialised species that exit the evolutionary tree at one mass-extinction-level event or another, while at least some of the more generalist species keep surviving.

In the case of this backstory, it's doing a fantastic job!

Just need the model to go with it, now.

[Rheged]

I admire the effort you are putting into your back story.
I just wait until the muse is awake and then spew whatever crap is in my head across the keyboard.

I too admire a well constructed backstory.............and this is particularly well built!!      Readers should also remember that the writer is NOT using his native language;  I  couldn't write a backstory  in any of my other  languages........barely adequate French, Latin or classical Greek!

[Pellson]

What a weekend this is! Midsummer! And the light! Even now, at solar midnight, there's a blueish light with an orange streak on the northern horizon. And you can just see enough, even at this age, to safely wander about in the unlit terrain.
The nature is at its peak, everything lush, green and fertile, and there's no end to the folklore magic going around on these nights.

This year, the first year after a few very, very dull summers under the pandemic, even the weather seems hell bent on really giving no excuse for not going all in, and the partying has been truly massive! It's as if everything and everyone is making amends for the last few years.

Also, it's really been too hot for any useful activities, including modelling and Land Rover repairs. Rather, I've been doing some minor gardening to get an excuse for having a garden beer. Or three. And now, again, we're in bed, under a wide open window, feeling the tepid breeze on our bodies as we try to go to sleep. The dog infernal snoring isn't helping, unfortunately..

The other way, in installed protruding gun barrels on the Thunderstreak, but I'm not really convinced if they came out good enough. I'll give them a few days to see if they grow on me or not. It would be nice if they did, though I'm beginning to feel the urge to paint.

Another two weeks or so of work, and then hopefully a few weeks totally off. If the weather stays like this, farmers will moan about drought but I will enjoy the summer. If not - then modelling can be done indoors. No stress. 

[NARSES2]

What a weekend this is! Midsummer! And the light! Even now, at solar midnight, there's a blueish light with an orange streak on the northern horizon. And you can just see enough, even at this age, to safely wander about in the unlit terrain.
The nature is at its peak, everything lush, green and fertile, and there's no end to the folklore magic going around on these nights.

I was lucky enough to spend Midsummer in the Arctic Circle a few good few years ago and the light was such that you simply lost track of the time. Although it might have been the beer  . Never seen a sky or light like it.